Photo Essay: Whitney’s Department Store Christmas Parade

New York City still has its Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which users in a visit from Santa Claus. Boscov’s hosts the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is a holdover from the famous parade held by Gimbel’s in the City of Brotherly Love.

In Albany, we had Whitney’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade featured floats, costumes, and the like, all decorated with a holiday theme. My wife’s mother took tons of photographs in the 1960′s, and they were all preserved on carousel slides. These were scanned to disc a few years ago, and show the fun of a late 1960′s Whitney’s parade as it winds its way down Washington Avenue.

Apparently the photos were taken at the corner of Washington Avenue and Dove Street. Many of the floats and displays in the Toyland parade are borrowed from children’s books – one can see the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, the Tin Woodsman from the Wizard of Oz, and several images from Aladdin and the King Arthur stories.

The best photo, however, is the last one – Santa, riding not on his sleigh, but in a bright red Chevrolet Impala with whitewall tires and a bevy of beauties, courtesy of Marsh Hallman Chevrolet. I wonder if the “free gift” involved oil changes or tire rotations.

For those who remember when Albany’s downtown included a bustling commerce center and nightlife that didn’t involve brew pubs, one could shop at department stores like Whitney’s and Myers. One could dance in the Rain-Bo Room at the Kenmore Hotel. One could buy clothes at Sherry’s or Lerner’s. Uptown shopping centers and enclosed malls slowly siphoned away the downtown storefronts, leaving only faded memories of a different time in our life.

Anyways, here’s a slideshow of the parade, hope you enjoy it:

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5 Responses

Must be a good day for memories-just read about the original Colonie library. I also remember the Whitney’s parades,particularly the floats. The weather was crisp and Whitney’s was one of those exciting department stores that no longer exist-Myers,Carl’s Co are also gone. Thanks for the visual fun.

This brings back great memories! Downtown was an exciting place to go with my mother around Xmas – Myers and Whitney’s were THE stores to shop. Shopping was a special occasion for us and my mother would treat us to lunch in the little coffee shop that was in the basement of the department store and we would visit Santa on the same day. I remember that very fondly.

Loved the slides. I was eleven in 1960 but have no recollection of the parade. Whitney’s however was a big part of my growing up as were all the shops on North Pearl Street. It was also great to see the houses in the rear of many of the slides, two doors up from the University Club. I remember when they were torn down to build a parking lot. I used to pick up two elderly women who lived there and take them to Jack’s while driving a taxi in the early 70′s.

Great job rekindling memories. I believe the schools would also march in the parade. We lived on Colnie Street and would walk to downtown. I remember going to Whitney’s THE department store in Albany. The Palace was still a movie theatre and I believe there was also the Ritz? Next door to the palace was the Hobby Shop where you could spend hours looking at all the great stuff!Then there was the nut shop on the corner of State and Pearl.Thanks again, wish people had more pictures to send in.

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